Safe Haven
by Eirinn Croi
Summary: "I can't live a life with someone who needs to be constantly reminded that he's worth so much more than what he pretends to be." - The war is over and Luna is desperate to feel safe again, but will she find it with the one who already has her heart?


_Written for **stars fall at midnight**'s Break Up Challenge and **ReillyJade**'s The Scene is the Inspiration Challenge._

_Disclaimer: "You deserve somebody great" - The Wedding Crashers_.

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**Safe Haven**

Shell Cottage was as picturesque as ever. But in the light of the events of the last few days, Luna saw it as even more beautiful and serene.

She had spent a few weeks in that house, and she now viewed it as a safe haven, a place where the evils of the world had been blocked out, even for just a while. And now she found herself here again, searching for the beauty, serenity and the answers to her heart's deepest questions.

Turning from the little stone cottage, Luna looked out over the beach. The marram grass danced lazily in the breeze, the seagulls screeched and dived for fish, the waves lapped happily at the shore. It was a happy place, and Luna smiled, soaking up the comfort it offered, just like it had only days before when she stood here with Dean.

Was that really only days ago? Seemed like a lifetime.

Luna leaned against the broken fence that bordered the garden of Shell Cottage and just stared at the scene before her. Her answers hadn't come yet, but Luna sensed they would. Hadn't her answer of Harry, Ron and Hermione's safety come when she stood right here, when her coin had burned?

She hitched a sighed and thought of going into the cottage behind her, to see Bill and Fleur and thank them for their hospitality, for providing her safe haven, when suddenly, she heard a loud pop.

He had materialised before her and Luna gasped. How had he known where to find her and, if he knew about this place, why had she remained safe here after her escape from his house? He didn't speak, just stared, those cold grey eyes locked on hers. They held all the questions that she was here pondering for herself.

"What are you doing here, Draco?" she asked eventually, her tone even, hiding her discomfort at having him disturb her safe haven.

"I need to talk to you. And you know that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have run off when I tried to talk to you the other day, in the Great Hall." He seemed calm but Luna could read the underlying emotion in his eyes. She always could. It was why their relationship had grown, even under the most horrible of circumstances. Because she could always tell how he really felt.

"How did you find me?" she asked, forcing herself to remain calm, as calm as he pretended to be.

Draco shrugged. "Potter told me. I guess even he knew we needed to talk."

Luna pressed her lips together and nodded, then turned her head to look out at the waves once more. Still, she saw it when his patience snapped. He charged towards her, grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him again. "Damn it, Lovegood, we are going to talk!"

"About what Draco? About how you swore to me that you'd change, then hunted Harry down just a few nights ago and tried to kill him?"

"I never tried to kill him! All I wanted was the diadem. It was Crabbe that did all the rest, not me! And in case it skipped your notice, he's dead!"

Luna glared at him, narrowing her eyes in a way that only he seemed to find scary. He released her and backed away.

"You're a coward, Draco."

She saw the reaction her words caused, and for a fleeting moment, she was glad that she could hurt him that way. He tumbled back another few steps and looked away from her, desperation dancing behind those grey eyes. "I'm trying not to be. Why won't you help me?"

"I've tried, Draco, and for some time, I thought I was getting through to you. You have good intentions but you always fail to carry them out when faced with what is right and what is easy. And you'll always be the same. The pain might fade from that Mark on your arm, Draco, but it will always remain, lying beneath the surface, and it will always drag you back to your old ways, even if you say you don't want it to. And I can't live a life with someone who needs to be constantly reminded that he's worth so much more than what he pretends to be."

Draco was silent for several long minutes, before finally raising his head to look her in the eye once more. "So, we're done?" he asked, his voice cold, barely disguising his hurt.

Luna bit her lip and nodded once. And before either of them could speak again, another loud pop sounded from behind them and they both turned to see that Dean had appeared in the distance. Once he spotted Draco, his hands balled into fists, but he didn't move.

Draco looked back to Luna in time to see the relief spread across her face. She tried to hide it from him, but knew she finally had the answers to her questions. And they had arrived with Dean, not Draco.

Luna felt deep love, compassion and warmth when she was with the Draco she had befriended in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, but she knew he could not be that Draco when they were no longer trapped in that house. He would always revert to the cold, dark and cowardly boy she had known in school.

And Dean? He was safe, he was comfort, he was strength. He was everything they both needed to recover from this war and more.

Draco sighed and approached her once more, more calmly this time. He reached up and pressed his lips to her forehead, hesitated and stepped back again. "You deserve somebody great, Luna. And I know that it isn't me. I'm sorry, but please know that I'll always shoot for the moon. Maybe one day, I'll deserve her."

He had turned and disapparated before she could even reply. Tears gathered in her eyes as she realised that it really was over for them. Their relationship had never been a normal one, but it had been a relationship nonetheless. And now it was gone forever.

Luna raised her head once more and saw Dean approaching her. She smiled.

It would be okay...Somehow.


End file.
